TRENDSPOTTING

Following Bill’s Lead

One vision care CEO took to the trail to follow a blind adventurer into the wild. Trek along here…

VSP’s Jim McGrann hikes in front of Bill Barkeley. Barkeley, who is vision impaired, watches the feet of his hiking partners to help him navigate the trails.

Bill Barkeley suffers from Usher syndrome—a rare disorder that causes partial or total hearing loss and vision loss that worsens over time. But that doesn’t stop this adventurer from reaching new heights, time and time again.

Barkeley recently took to the Camino de Santiago trail, a 500-mile trail that starts in France and ends in Spain. His friend Jim McGrann, VSP Global’s CEO, joined Barkeley for the last five days and 71.5 miles of the journey.

The goal of the hike? To raise awareness for Usher syndrome. But McGrann walked away with much more. We catch up with him here.

eyecare business: What inspired you to do the hike?

jim mcgrann: Bill contacted me earlier this year to let me know about his plan to complete this trail to raise awareness for Usher syndrome. Doing the hike with Bill, his rope team, and some other VSP Global team members seemed like a great way for VSP Global to support his mission and help get the word out.

Also, this October marked my first year as CEO of VSP Global. It has been a great year and a busy year without much time to decompress. I knew the hike would give me a chance to reflect on the past year and think about the year ahead.

eb: Were there difficult moments?

jm: The first day was the hardest. It was 90 degrees, and I did not follow Bill’s instructions regarding packing light. And, I had spent too much time training at sea level on flat surfaces. At the end of the first day, I lay on the tile floor of the hostel in sheer exhaustion. Thankfully, things improved from there with the support of Bill and the team.

eb: What surprised you about this experience?

jm: A few VSP employees joined this hike, and I got to spend one-on-one time with each of them in a completely different setting than I would in my day-to-day role. Instead of chatting with employees in conference rooms dressed in business casual, I connected with them in workout gear on a trail in the rain. This change of setting made the interactions more intimate and more open.

—Erinn Morgan

Web Exclusive

Read more at eyecarebusiness.com/webexclusives, and learn more about Bill Barkeley’s inspiring life at billbarkeley.com.